Rating: 
Summary: Excellent music, mediocre recording
Review: Although the drama on stage was disappointing, Muti and the vocalists create terrific music. It is unfortunate that the recording quality is only mediocre. Furthermore, the stage lighting was inappropriately dim for capturing the opera on tape, and most of the scenes are excessively gloomy. All in all, this performance fails to demonstrate the strengths of the DVD format.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste
Review: Don Giovanni is by far one of my favorite operas, so when I saw this DVD I bought it immediately. Big disappointing. The video quality is old-fashioned TV, illumination too dark. The most disappointing part was not technical, but artistic; in the scene when the Comendatore comes to Don Giovanni's house (my favorite scene, I was astonished when I first saw it in Amadeus) the Comendatore is NOT THERE, just his voice. It lost all its impact when you see Don Giovanni talking to the audience. People usually wait two hours for this scene, and then it comes THIS? Sometimes originality is not better. I suggest to keep listening a CD version of the opera, and use your imagination for the rest.
Rating: 
Summary: Don Giovanni
Review: Great story by Di Ponte. Great music by Mozart. Great scenes by La Scala.Wish they had done something a little more imaginative with the Statue who came to dinner, but other than that, a wonderful performance. So great to be able to buy good opera on DVD with surround sound. It's a long way from here to anywhere with serious opera companies. Fills the Winter nights.
Rating:
Summary: Don Giovanni
Review: Great story by Di Ponte. Great music by Mozart. Great scenes by La Scala. Wish they had done something a little more imaginative with the Statue who came to dinner, but other than that, a wonderful performance. So great to be able to buy good opera on DVD with surround sound. It's a long way from here to anywhere with serious opera companies. Fills the Winter nights.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting opera and well worth watching!
Review: Here are my reasons: 1. The delightful staging by Giorgio Strehler - a subtle and elegant setting for the precious jewel of Mozart's opera! Every little detail matters: dry leaves flutter with fear and fury when Don Giovanni escapes from Donna Anna's house; "fleur d'orange" removed from Zerlina's head by amorous Don Giovanni and flowers thrown down by Masetto silently witness the passionate conversation between Don Giovanni, Don Ottavio, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira till finally are picked up by Leporello and Don Giovanni to remind them of the unhappy wedding celebration; Don Giovanni turns his would-be handshake with Leporello into a vulgar bribe to let the servant know his place... The "catalogue scene" (Leporello, Donna Elvira), the opening scene of the 2nd Act (Don Giovanni, Leporello), the "dinner scene" at the end of the 2nd Act (Don Giovanni, Leporello, Donna Elvira) are simply masterpieces! ...and not the only ones in this opera! 1. Acting/Performance Certainly in an opera it is the quality of the music and singers' voices that matters. But the opera should not only be sung but performed! I mean the singers' performance starting with the intonation to the gestures and movement. Well, in this production you have the advantage of seeing all possible operatic performance styles... ;-) "*" - The singer goes to the middle of the stage and delivers his aria, his only concern being to start and stop singing with the music (F. Araiza as Don Ottavio). The singer feels the character's emotions. Her severe sufferings make the spectators suffer too till they start longing for someone to stop the poor singer's torments! (E. Gruberova as Donna Anna) I'm sorry to write this because they both have beautiful voices but poor performance ruins the effect! Try closing your eyes when they start singing! ;-} "**" - N. de Carolis as Masetto and S. Koptchak as the Commendatore - adequate performance. "***" - A. Murray as Donna Elvira - there are some obvious faults in her acting, but despite of it her performance seemed very sincere to me. S. Mentzer as Zerlina - charming!!! "*****" - T. Allen as Don Giovanni and C. Desderi as Leporello - there's actually so much to say about them that I think I shouldn't say anything... :) Gorgeous!! Every intonation, every turn of the head and every step shows their characters' personality and emotions. They are not Mr. Allen and Mr. Desderi singing arias: It is Don Giovanni, a Spanish nobleman, and Leporello, his servant, flirting with women, fooling about, plotting intrigues, enjoying life's pleasures and fearing the deadly handshake of the Commendatore... An exciting portrayal of the love-hate relationship between the master and the servant and on the whole - a brilliant performance rarely to be seen in an opera! 3. Last but not least: the excellent "screen version" of the opera. I've seen several recorded operas and dramatic performances - most of them were impossibly tedious (being at the same time tremendous success at the theater). It seems that some very essential part of the theatre magic is lost when the opera/play/ballet is transferred to the video tape or DVD. Not in this case! C. Battistoni and his team did a creative and very professional job - the magic of Mozart's music (marvelously conducted by R. Muti) shines in all its glory! Heavenly music + wonderful voices + beautiful staging + great performance = well deserved 5 stars!!!
Rating:
Summary: An exciting opera and well worth watching!
Review: Here are my reasons: 1.The delightful staging by Giorgio Strehler - a subtle and elegant setting for the precious jewel of Mozart's opera! Every little detail matters: dry leaves flutter with fear and fury when Don Giovanni escapes from Donna Anna's house; "fleur d'orange" removed from Zerlina's head by amorous Don Giovanni and flowers thrown down by Masetto silently witness the passionate conversation between Don Giovanni, Don Ottavio, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira till finally are picked up by Leporello and Don Giovanni to remind them of the unhappy wedding celebration; Don Giovanni turns his would-be handshake with Leporello into a vulgar bribe to let the servant know his place... The "catalogue scene" (Leporello, Donna Elvira), the opening scene of the 2nd Act (Don Giovanni, Leporello), the "dinner scene" at the end of the 2nd Act (Don Giovanni, Leporello, Donna Elvira) are simply masterpieces! ...and not the only ones in this opera! 1.Acting/Performance Certainly in an opera it is the quality of the music and singers' voices that matters. But the opera should not only be sung but performed! I mean the singers' performance starting with the intonation to the gestures and movement. Well, in this production you have the advantage of seeing all possible operatic performance styles... ;-) "*" - The singer goes to the middle of the stage and delivers his aria, his only concern being to start and stop singing with the music (F. Araiza as Don Ottavio). The singer feels the character's emotions. Her severe sufferings make the spectators suffer too till they start longing for someone to stop the poor singer's torments! (E. Gruberova as Donna Anna) I'm sorry to write this because they both have beautiful voices but poor performance ruins the effect! Try closing your eyes when they start singing! ;-} "**" - N. de Carolis as Masetto and S. Koptchak as the Commendatore - adequate performance. "***" - A. Murray as Donna Elvira - there are some obvious faults in her acting, but despite of it her performance seemed very sincere to me. S. Mentzer as Zerlina - charming!!! "*****" - T. Allen as Don Giovanni and C. Desderi as Leporello - there's actually so much to say about them that I think I shouldn't say anything... :) Gorgeous!! Every intonation, every turn of the head and every step shows their characters' personality and emotions. They are not Mr. Allen and Mr. Desderi singing arias: It is Don Giovanni, a Spanish nobleman, and Leporello, his servant, flirting with women, fooling about, plotting intrigues, enjoying life's pleasures and fearing the deadly handshake of the Commendatore... An exciting portrayal of the love-hate relationship between the master and the servant and on the whole - a brilliant performance rarely to be seen in an opera! 3. Last but not least: the excellent "screen version" of the opera. I've seen several recorded operas and dramatic performances - most of them were impossibly tedious (being at the same time tremendous success at the theater). It seems that some very essential part of the theatre magic is lost when the opera/play/ballet is transferred to the video tape or DVD. Not in this case! C. Battistoni and his team did a creative and very professional job - the magic of Mozart's music (marvelously conducted by R. Muti) shines in all its glory! Heavenly music + wonderful voices + beautiful staging + great performance = well deserved 5 stars!!!
Rating: 
Summary: despite Ann Murray, a wonderful Don Giovanni!!
Review: I am thrilled to review this DVD after I saw it. Don Giovanni is a wonderful opera with an ALMOST 5-star cast. Why do I give it 4 stars? although I love Ann Murray, she is totally miscast in this role. During Leporello's Catalouge aria, she just stands on stage "like a dead tree stump" as another reviewer said. She looks depressed instead of angry.
The other reason: when the Statue comes to dinner, you don't see him. HE DOESN'T EVEN COME IN! You hear this voice, and you see this constant flashing light in which you can see him for only one second each time it flashes. You don't see him until Don Giovanni gives him his hand. The epilouge is very well done Thomas Allen is a great Don Giovanni, but I have seen better ones. Ruggerro Raimondi is a much better actor than Allen. You should see the film version of Don Giovanni with Raimondi, te Kanawa, etc. Even though this one is great, the film is better. What else? well, Suzzane Metzner (spelling?) is a WONDERFUL and a BEAUTIFUL Zerlina. You'll love her. You SHOULD buy this DVD (or VHS) . you won't regret it. but I do suggest you watch Peter Sellars version of Don Giovanni (it's great!) and the film version with Raimondi, te Kanawa, etc. before you buy this one. all of the above, AND this one are wonderful Don Giovanni's. They all make great comparrisons. Enjoy this one if you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: This dvd is fine. I disagree with the other reviewers.
Review: I have been listening to opera for my entire and in having listened to over 500 different recordings of opera on video and countless 100's of cd's, I have experienced all the different types of weakness and greatness that make recordings what they are. There is the infamous background noise that drives you crazy, the poor balance of sound between the instruments, voices and even the weak chorus microphoning that makes it impossible to hear parts. Sometimes even poor staging or simply poor casting for different roles is the culprit for a poor opera recording. I had never heard the La Scala recording of Don Giovanni and guided only by the reviews of DVD on Amazon.com and several otherreviews from several opera magazines, I almost didn't buy this DVD because everyone seems to like to put down this recording. Although I agree with the opinions of some reviewers that certain La Scala DVD recordings sound and look like VHS recordings simply "passed on to DVD," (i.e., Cosi Fan Tutti, don't buy it! ) I did not have that feeling with this recording. Riccardo Muti conducts with reasonable and controlled flair and tempo, the singing is for the most part strong except in the part of Leoporello in which he has somewhat of a tendency to fall off tempo, the musical parts are fairly easy to differentiate in the orchestra, the costumes and sets are pretty, and the interpretion of the libretto is a fabulous translation. Yes, I would not give this recording 5 stars or say that it is the favorite of my recordings of opera, but as Don Giovanni is probably (in my opinion) one of the greatest 3 operas to ever be written, it is a shame for people interested in opera and classical music to not accquaint themselves with its beautiful music and plot before seeing it live in the opera house. This recording is the only good production of the opera out there. There are two other recordings and if you think that this one isn't your cup of tea, I promise you that you will hate the other two recordings. It is impossible to even differentiate parts in them. Even for fanatics of opera like me who rip their hair out when there is the slighest background noise or difficulty in differentiating parts in the recording, I think that this is a reasonably good production with good sound and video quality that will give you great listening value. Buy it and enjoy. The sound quality is great, I promise. If the subtle psychological treatment of the staging and acting doesn't do it for you, this recording sounds so good that you can even turn off the picture and enjoy yourself (Although I believe that the video heightens the enjoyment of the music). If you want a great audio recording of Don Giovanni, I recommend the Claudio Abbado recording with Bryn Terfel for which I have also written a review. Happy Listening!
Rating:
Summary: Could we have music and drama, please?
Review: I have seen many, many stagings of this grandiose work. Sadly it is rare to find musical qualities matching the dramatic ones, or viceversa. This is, however, not a bad production. Musically it is more than adequate, and I agree with other reviewers in giving high marks to Zerlina. Sadly the stage production is too rigidly classical. The comical relief that Leporello can provide is toned down and Don Giovanni's seductive powers are, at best, subdued. The nicely designed stage does lend itself for the more somber scenes.
Rating:
Summary: Could we have music and drama, please?
Review: I have seen many, many stagings of this grandiose work. Sadly it is rare to find musical qualities matching the dramatic ones, or viceversa. This is, however, not a bad production. Musically it is more than adequate, and I agree with other reviewers in giving high marks to Zerlina. Sadly the stage production is too rigidly classical. The comical relief that Leporello can provide is toned down and Don Giovanni's seductive powers are, at best, subdued. The nicely designed stage does lend itself for the more somber scenes.
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